Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy was delighted to award the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Arild Remmereit with the first ever AMY Award for Excellence in Orchestral Programming.

We have kept up with the RPO over the 2011-2012 season. During his first season with the ensemble, Remmereit set a wonderful precedent by programming eight works by historic and contemporary women. Liane Curtis, the WPA founder and president, made the trip to Rochester on Thursday to present the award, this beautiful sculpture designed by Rita Blitt.

And do be sure to stop by Arild Remmereit’s Facebook page for photos of the maestro with Liane as well as with composer Margaret Brouwer, who was commissioned by the RPO. Her new work, Caution Ahead—Guard Rail Out was premiered on Thursday on a program that also included Sofia Gubaidulina’s Two Paths: A Dedication to Mary and Martha.

Congratulations to the RPO and Arild Remmereit! We look forward to more good work to come next season!

The annual Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, held in Santa Cruz, California, has a history of highlighting music by women. This is due in part to the festival focusing on living composers – however, I suspect that it is in part a happy consequence of the programming of music director and conductor Marin Alsop.

Here is a video where she describes the process of programming the Cabrillo Festival:

For the 2011 season, Cabrillo will have fifteen composers in residence – including six women.

I recently wrote about the news from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra that they are making a concerted effort to include and recognize the contributions of women musicians in their 2011-2012 concert season. Just days after the BSO news was announced, I learned that the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is making similar strides in their programming. The press release can be found here.

It is notable that this is the inaugural season for the RPO’s new Music Director, Arild Remmereit. Christopher Seaman, Remmereit’s predecessor, was not known to embrace works by women in his programming – according to the League of American Orchestra reports the Rochester Philharmonic has only performed three works by women in the last ten years – (Higdon’s Blue Cathedral; Larsen’s Notes Slipped Under the Door, and Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman). This season, however, the RPO will perform eight works:

In my eyes, Remmereit has created a fantastic season including a more diverse representation of women’s work through history and nationalities than likely has ever been seen in a professional orchestra’s programming. We can only hope that the effort and thought that was part of the artistic choices for the 2011-2012 season will carry through future seasons, and that Remmereit and the RPO will continue to perform diverse programming. If this is how Remmereit is approaching his first season in Rochester, I am anxious to see what future concerts will hold!